Field Notes
Practical writing for product leaders and boutique advisors – on deciding what to build, answering the hard questions, and running a sharper practice.
All Field Notes posts, page 6
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsCutting Management Layers Isn't the Same as Cutting the Work
Companies calling layoffs "simplification" rarely redesign who does the coordination work a manager used to do – and that gap is measurable.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsHalf Your Team Is Already Pasting Client Secrets Into Ungoverned AI
Half of knowledge workers use unsanctioned AI tools; 39% have pasted confidential documents into them. For a discretion-based firm, that's existential.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsThe Robot Isn't the Threat. The Squeeze Is.
Only 22% of tech workers fear being replaced by AI. Far more fear the squeeze — more work for the same pay. It's answerable, from both sides.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsAI Didn't Make Me Faster. It Made Me Right More Often.
82% of tech workers say AI made them more productive. Whether it made the work better is a choice — and the research shows exactly how the two paths split.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsThe On-Ramp Didn't Close. It Just Stopped Being Free.
Most tech workers wouldn't recommend their field to a newcomer. The on-ramp is narrowing — but it's a filter, not a wall, and here's how you still get in.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsBurnout Isn't a Motivation Problem. It's a Pace Problem.
Tech burnout just became the majority experience — but people still like the work. It's a pace problem, and a lot of it is one you can stop imposing.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsYour Team Isn't Split by AI. It's Split by You.
A 2026 survey says AI is splitting tech workers into thriving and struggling. The bigger truth: which side they land on is mostly about their manager.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsContinuous Discovery Has an Infrastructure Problem, Not a Willpower Problem
Most teams fail at continuous discovery, but not from lack of discipline. It's missing infrastructure – and that's a fixable problem.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsDiligence Is Getting Longer, Not Deeper
M&A due diligence has stretched from four months to nearly seven. Longer hasn't meant deeper – and that gap is where deals quietly break.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsThe AI Rule You Built For Just Got Repealed
The AI rules firms spent two years preparing for are now being repealed and pre-empted. Compliance built on a moving target needs a new approach.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsWho Becomes Senior When AI Does All the Junior Work?
AI is automating the junior work that used to turn people into seniors. So who becomes senior once the training ground is gone?
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsYour Prioritization Framework Is Theater
Leadership overrides the prioritization framework most of the time. The score was never the decision – the conversation is.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsThe Diligence Gap: Why Nearly Half of Dead Deals Now Die in the Data Room
What kills M&A deals has shifted from financing to what buyers find in the data room – and earnings quality is the fastest-rising killer.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsThirty Years of Agile and Software Success Is Still Stuck at 31%
After decades of Agile, cloud, and better tools, software still succeeds about 31% of the time. The bottleneck was never the tooling.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsYour Team Doesn't Trust You, and the Data Says You Can't See It
Trust in leadership is at multi-year lows, worst in tech – and the leaders who own it are the last to see it. The cost isn't who quits.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsThe Verification Gap: Your Developers Don't Trust the Code They're Shipping
Developers don't trust AI-generated code – and ship it anyway. The verification gap is a management problem, not a model problem.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsEpistemic Debt Is the New Technical Debt
Technical debt is code you still understand. Epistemic debt is when AI writes so much of your system that no one does – and it's the more dangerous one.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsI'm Not a Coach. That's the Point.
As AI commoditizes knowledge and effort, judgment becomes the scarce skill. Joe Hudson teaches you to build it. A consultant is someone who already has it.
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsYour Product Strategy Wasn't Built for Things That Make Their Own Decisions
Fieldway's take on the 2026 'Agentic Product Evolution' study (IJCA; 10 enterprise implementations, 25+ product leaders): most product strategies still use
Field Notes
Consulting OperationsDue Diligence Now Has to Catch AI-Washing, Not Just Check the Tech
Fieldway's take on PwC's 2026 M&A outlook: roughly a third of 2025's 100 largest deals cited AI in their rationale, and PwC now calls AI due diligence
Browse by month
November 2026 · October 2026 · September 2026 · August 2026 · July 2026 · June 2026 · May 2026 · April 2026
Get the Fieldway newsletter
Field notes on the craft and business of running a lean advisory practice. One short email every morning.